Hector sat down on the far right end of the table before the judge's bench, just to the right of his attorney, Gil Carreon.  He was wearing his usual dark blue v-necked jail shirt with mustard yellow pants.  He was hand-cuffed in front with a chain around his waist. The court was called to session as Judge Fasel walked in and up to his bench.  Gil Carreon announced himself for Hector Porrata, Tom Schultz for The People.

"Porrata is your name?" Judge Fasel asked. 

"Yes, sir," Hector replied.

"I see here 59 counts of grand theft," the judge stated, looking at the papers.

The judge continued to state there were another 78 counts of insurance fraud, felonies within the meaning of 550 B1, 1 conspiracy charge, and 1 enhancement charge. 

"I understand you understand the charges," Fasel said.

"I understand," Hector responded.

Judge Fasel then went through the usual drill given to any defendant changing a plea of not-guilty to guilty that he would be giving up all constitutional rights.  He went through the list of all rights he would be giving up, including a right against self-incrimination.  He asked Hector if he understood. 

Hector replied, "I do, your honor."

"You're changing your plea from not-guilty to guilty.  Is that what you'd like to do?"

I heard Hector take a deep breath, as if he slightly gasped, and then hesitate.  He paused noticeably, as if he couldn't quite accept what he was doing.

"I don't want to twist your arm," the judge said in a very no-nonsense tone.

After a moment Hector replied, "Yes, your honor," in a soft voice.  Hector's final word to the last question of the judge was "guilty".  He spoke so softly it was almost a whisper.

The judge stated that Hector Porrata's sentence was 8 years in state prison. Restitution will be owed (to AIG now Chartis Insurance and Matrix Absence Management).  After prison there will be parole of 3 years.  The factual basis for the guilty plea was 24 pages long, and Hector acknowledged that he had read every page.  Counts 1-59 were for felony grand theft. Counts 60-118 for insurance fraud.  Then conspiracy and then enhancements.

When stating the last part about "enhancements" the judge asked Hector, "Are they true or not true?"  Hector replied, "true". 

Then it was over.  Hector will be formally sentenced on May 7th, the same day as his wife, Cara Cruz-Thompson.  Rene Montes and George Martinez had their cases continued until May, earlier that morning.  Rene's pretrial is set for May 28th.  George's is set for May 7th. Both are scheduled and set for trial on June 21st.

Surprisingly, George Martinez got scheduled for trial and did not reach a plea agreement. I thought George would cop a plea before Hector.  But, I got surprised once more.

Hector was led out of the court room, after finally exchanging a few laughs, probably of relief, with his attorney. I sat in my chair suddenly misty eyed.  Even though I had predicted 10 years in prison for Hector, based on the evidence I saw, when it finally happened that he got 8 years in a plea deal, I felt sad.  I wanted to cry.  I fished a kleenex out of my purse to dab my eyes.

I went through two kleenexes all the way up the 5 freeway to the Los Angeles interchange. Now that it finally happened after 11 months since Hector's arrest, I found myself surprisingly emotional.  Why?  Because Hector was one of us, and he took a wrong turn in the road.  I had done business transactions with Hector; I had placed temporary adjusters with him back when he was the claims manager of Matrix.  Something in my heart considered him like a brother.

Now Hector and Cara will be together again when they are both formally sentenced on May 7th. But not for long. Cara will walk out of jail that night, having served full credit for her 2 year state prison deal, but Hector will go on to actual time in prison. Cara will step back out into the world, while Hector will remain behind bars. And from there, Hector and Cara will no longer be together. But who knows?  I don't seem to be able to accurately guess at things.

Readers may write to writer Lonce LaMon at lonce@adjustercom.com